It is known to provide zones of rollers along a roller conveyor, where each zone includes a motorized roller and a plurality of idler or freely rotating rollers. The motorized roller is typically operable to drive the idler rollers via a plurality of O-rings connecting each roller to an adjacent roller in the zone. Each zone may be independently operable to accumulate articles on a particular zone or zones or to generally continuously convey articles along the zones of the roller conveyor. However, such roller conveyors are not suitable for certain applications where belt conveyors are desired, such as for conveying small articles which may fall between the rollers or for applications where a belt conveyor may be required or desired for other reasons. Also, due to the low friction between the rollers and the articles being conveyed thereon, such roller conveyors are not suitable for providing accumulation of articles along an inclined or declined section of the roller conveyor.
Also, it is known to provide an angled discharge junction or connecting conveyor section at a discharge conveyor or station of a sorting system. The discharge junctions typically comprise a plurality of different length rollers rotatably mounted between a sidewall of the junction and an angled mating or connecting frame, such that the rollers are positioned in an ascending length order to define an angled mating edge or connection at the sorting system conveyor or transport path. The rollers are typically freely rotating rollers and function to transport articles from the transport or sorting system to a discharge conveyor or station at the opposite end of the angled junction. Articles are discharged from the transport system and may coast over the different length rollers and onto the discharge conveyor or station. It is also known to provide angled belted conveyor sections where a continuous belt is reeved around rollers and is operable to induct or discharge articles at a main conveying path or transport path. However, such angled belted conveyor sections typically include complicated routing paths for the belt beneath the conveyor section to properly align and track the belt around an end roller at the angled mating edge of the angled belted conveyor section.